THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, February 27      Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, March 1              Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:05 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Two games left. Four potential places in the final standings for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
               
Where will they land?
 
The SPU women will, in large part, determine that for themselves this week when they wrap up the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season basketball schedule with two games in Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons will welcome Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., then will take on Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. That one tips off at 7:05 to allow for the Senior Night ceremony, scheduled for 6:45.
 
Seattle Pacific clinched a spot in the GNAC Tournament with last Saturday's 76-64 victory at Western Oregon. It starts the week in fifth place, one game ahead of Saint Martin's and one game behind Anchorage. Depending on the Falcons' outcomes, as well as results from some other games around the conference, they can finish as high as third or as low as sixth.
 
Regardless, they will head to Lacey next Wednesday, March 5, for the first round of the tourney at Saint Martin's.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and a free live Webcast will be available from this week's games. The Webcasts are through Stretch Internet, the conference's official video streaming provider. Appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
OHLSEN SHOOTS HER WAY INTO NCAA TOP 10 AT THE LINE
SPU junior point guard Suzanna Ohlsen ranks No. 9 in NCAA Division II for free throw shooting coming into this week.
 
Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) pushed her season percentage above 90 last week, now at .904 (66 of 73). She has drained 31 in a row, a streak which started on Jan. 18 at Central Washington.
 
Although she is just a junior, Ohlsen already is SPU's career leader as the foul line. Her career percentage is up to .889 (160 of 180). That's 36 points ahead of the .853 posted by Amy Taylor from 2003-05.
 
If Ohlsen finishes above 90 percent, she will be the first Falcon in history to do so. Taylor is the current owner of the best single-season percentage, hitting at an .896 clip (60 of 67) in 2003-04.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Senior forward Katie Benson needs just nine points to join SPU's all-time top five for scoring. She starts the week with 1,598. The current No. 5 is Lori Robinett, with 1,606 from 1986-89.
-- SPU will be seeking a split with Anchorage after the Seawolves scored a 77-65 victory on Dec. 7, and will be looking to sweep the Nanooks, with a 71-68 win on Dec. 5 already in the books.
-- The loss at Anchorage was Seattle Pacific's first of the season after opening with seven straight victories.
-- The last time the Falcons beat UAA was when it came to Seattle on Feb. 2, 2012, ranked No. 8 in the country. SPU prevailed, 67-62.
-- When the teams met two months ago at Anchorage, the Seawolves dominated the boards, 59-42. Even more noteworthy was their 25 offensive rebounds.
-- In the 16 games since then, the Falcons have out-rebounded their opponent 11 times, tied twice, and lost the boards battle three times. Their rebounding margin in those games is plus-63.
-- SPU has won 24 games in a row against Alaska Fairbanks, its longest winning streak against any conference team.
-- The last win in the series for the Nanooks was 75-71 in Fairbanks on Jan. 12, 2002.
-- SPU head coach Julie Heisey is 17-0 all-time against Fairbanks, and 7-0 against Nanooks coach Cody Bench.
-- Her record against Anchorage is 11-10. She is 2-3 against second-year Seawolves coach Ryan McCarthy, both wins coming when he was the acting head coach at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 18-6, 11-5 GNAC (4th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 39-21. Current series streak: UAA won 3. Last time: UAA 77, SPU 65 (Dec. 7, 2013 at Anchorage). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage has plenty to play for this week – in particular, the regular-season title, for which it is still mathematically in the hunt. Certainly, the Seawolves have plenty of firepower get it done. Their average of 82.4 points per game ranks No. 5 in Division II, and is well ahead of everyone else in the GNAC. They don't have anyone who necessarily lights up the scoreboard every night, but get steady, consistent performances from several players. UAA has four averaging in double figures, led by the 14 points per game from junior guard / forward and Seattle native Alli Madison. Senior forward Kylie Burns, at 5-foot-9, collects an average of 7.1 rebounds per game. Junior forward KeKe Wright is one of the GNAC's top shooters, tied for fourth at .523. Anchorage can be a menace defensively, as well, leading the conference in steals at 15.2 per game. Freshman guard Kiki Robertson is responsible for 3.5 of those on average.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 9-15, 3-13 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 53-13. Current series streak: SPU won 24. Last time: SPU 71, UAF 68 (Dec. 5, 2013 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks got off to one of its best starts ever at 6-2, but things have not gone so well since the calendar turned to 2014. The Nanooks have lost five straight and 10 of their last 11. But some of those have been agonizingly close: a pair of two-pointers against Simon Fraser, a one-pointer at Saint Martin's (after beating the Saints by14 in Alaska in January), a four-pointer against Western Oregon, and a five-pointer against Northwest Nazarene. They also rang up 87 points against Alaska Anchorage (but UAA had 96 that night). UAF has a starting lineup of three freshmen and two juniors. One of those frosh, 5-11 forward Jordan Wilson, ranks No. 6 in GNAC scoring at 15.4 points per game, No. 7 in rebounding at 7.3, and starts the week at No. 1 in field goal shooting at .553. That last mark ranks No. 25 in Division II. Another freshman, 5-5 guard Victoria Milton, comes up with an average of 2.0 steals per game, tied for third in the conference.
 
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On Alaska Anchorage)
"Anchorage is very fast, very aggressive, and a very good scoring team. You can see they put up a lot of points real fast. We have to be able to handle their pressure, and definitely have to rebound. They just really crash the boards, and that's the biggest thing is we can't give up second shots. We have to make sure we do a good job defending. They have a lot of weapons and they can come at you in a lot of different areas, so we have to be ready defensively."
 
(On Alaska Fairbanks)
"They play very hard, very fast, and they can score in transiton – there's no question. They do a good job of getting to the basket. We have to try to slow them down and keep them out of the paint and not give them easy points in transition."

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific remained No. 4 in this week's West Region rankings, which were released on Wednesday. However, some shuffling took place above he Falcons, as Cal Poly Pomona replaced Montana State Billings at No. 1, thus moving into position to host the tournament. The Yellowjackets dipped to No. 2, and Simon Fraser went down one place to No. 3.
 
At the end of the conference tournaments, the three champions – GNAC, CCAA, and Pacific West – earn automatic bids to the NCAA West Regionals. The remaining spots will be filled by the five highest-ranked teams among the non-champions.

Despite winning both games last week, the Falcons dropped off the 'others receiving votes' list in this week's USA Today Sports / WBCA national poll that was released on Tuesday. Montana State Billings, which cracked the top 25 last week at No. 25, dropped out after going 1-1 last week (losing at Saint Martin's on Saturday night).
 
That left Cal Poly Pomona as the only West Region team in the top 25, sitting at No. 15, a climb of two places. Unbeaten Bentley of Massachusetts (25-0) and Colorado Mesa (24-0) are 1-2.

SALUTNG THE SENIORS
SPU guard Mechela Barnes, forward Katie Benson, and center Riley Butler will be honored on Senior Night prior to Saturday's game against Alaska Fairbanks. The ceremony will begin at 6:45 p.m.
                                 
Barnes came to the Falcons in 2012 after two years at the College of Southern Idaho. She immediately played her way into the starting lineup, then came back from a midseason injury to return to the first five and helped the Falcons advance to the GNAC semifinals. This season, while again dealing with an injury, Barnes lately has been getting more minutes, and last Saturday scored 11 second-half points to help the Falcons beat Western Oregon and clinch a GNAC Tournament berth.
                                                                                                                           
Benson has become a dominant force during her four seasons. Last year, she became the 20^th player in SPU history to pass 1,000 points, and now starts this week with 1,598. She has surpassed 700 rebounds, 100 blocked shots, 100 steals, and 100 games played in a Falcon uniform.  She was an All-GNAC first-team pick in 2013, and just recently was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American with her 3.72 grade-point average as a communications major.
 
Butler saw limited playing time in her first two years, but has become a more consistent part of Seattle Pacific's rotation. She comes into this week with season averages of 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 10.1 minutes per game, all single-season career bests. Butler also is shooting a career-best .465 from the field this year, and her 51 rebounds are more than she has ever grabbed in any season as a Falcon.



FALCONS REPLAY
-- Suzanna Ohlsen had had a career-high 25 points and also chipped in eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals last Thursday as the Falcons won at Saint Martin's, 54-44.
-- Katie Benson scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Seattle Pacific came from six points down early in the second half to beat Western Oregon last Saturday, 76-64.
.                                              
GNAC TABS OHLSEN AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Suzanna Ohlsen, who had a career high of 25 points and also pulled down eight rebounds last Thursday at Saint Martins, then delivered another productive performance on Saturday at Western Oregon, has been named the GNAC women's basketball Player of the Week.
               
The Seattle Pacific junior point guard accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring total on Thursday in a 54-44 victory against the Saints. She hit 10 of 12 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc in beating her previous high of 24 points, set on Dec. 8, 2012, at Chico State. Ohlsen also had three assists and four steals.
 
In Saturday's 76-64 win at Western Oregon, Ohlsen contributed 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
 
This is the third Player of the Week award for Seattle Pacific this season. Katie Benson won it two weeks in a row, on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25. Ohlsen also won it once last year as a sophomore.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Katie Benson was back in the double-double business last Saturday at Western Oregon. Benson's totals of 26 points and 12 rebounds was her first double-double in a span of eight games, her last one having come against Western Oregon in Seattle on Jan. 25.
                               
2013-14 double-doubles:
Katie Benson (8 season, 18 career): 20 pts-10 reb vs. Humboldt State, Nov. 8; 20 pts-17 reb vs. Point Loma Nazarene, Nov. 16; 31 pts-14 reb at Azusa Pacific, Nov. 23; 26 pts-12 reb at Alaska Anchorage, Dec. 7; 19 pts-14 reb vs. South Dakota Mines, Dec. 19; 18 pts-10 reb vs. Montana State Billings, Jan. 11; 16 pts-14 reb vs. Western Oregon, Jan. 23; 26 pts-12 reb at Western Oregon, Feb. 22.
 
RIGHT TIME TO GET HOT
Nothing like some solid shooting to provide an extra lift on the road, and SPU got lots of solid shooting last week. The Falcons hit at a season-high 52.5 percent clip in their 54-44 victory at Saint Martin's on Thursday, including 63.2 percent in the second half (12 of 19) and 58.3 – also a season-high – from 3-point territory (7-12).
 
In Saturday's 76-64 win at Western Oregon, they did it again, shooting 50.9 percent (28 of 55). Seattle Pacific hit 50 percent in the first half, and 51.7 in the second.
 
That was the first time this season that the Falcons have shot better than 50 percent in back-to-back games. They've had two other nights of exactly 50 percent shooting.
 
RIGHT TIME TO KEEP 'EM COLD
SPU is known for getting after it defensively, and that certainly was evident last Thursday at Saint Martin's. The Falcons limited the Saints to just 19 first-half points, the fifth time they've done that to an opponent through the opening 20 minutes this season. They also kept one opponent below 20 for the second half.
 
Seattle Pacific limited Saint Martin's to just 24.6 percent shooting (15 of 61) for the game. However, one team – Point Loma Nazarene on Nov. 16 in the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic – shot even lower, hitting at just .175 (10 of 57).
 
MARK ONE UP FOR MECHELA
It has undeniably been a tough season for senior guard Mechela Barnes (Tacoma, Wash. / Bellarmine Prep HS), who was projected to be one of SPU's starting guards, but whose playing time has been limited by a knee injury.
 
Last Saturday at Western Oregon, Barnes made the most of 12 minutes off the bench. She scored a season-high 11 points – all during the second half -- and collected three offensive rebounds.
 
With the Falcons in the lead – but not quite in the clear – Barnes hit a lay-in for a 68-58 advantage with 2:32 left. She then rebounded a missed free throw by freshman teammate Hannah Rodrigues and got to the line herself, hitting one of the two shots for another 10-point margin, 72-62, at the 1:19 mark. She added another free throw with 38 seconds to go, making it 73-64 and effectively putting it into the win column.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Katie Benson 25^th in NCAA D2 scoring (19.8).
-- Suzanna Ohlsen 9^th in free throw shooting (.904).
-- SPU 21^st in blocked shots (4.7).
 
Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
TRACKING THOSE GNAC TOP 10s
-- Katie Benson 2^nd scoring (19.8), 2^nd rebounding (9.2), 5^th blocked shots (1.5), 6^th field goal percentage (.517), tie 7^th steals (1.8).
-- Betsy Kingma 3^rd 3-pointers made (2.2), tie 3^rd assist / turnover ratio (1.7), 9^th minutes played (30.5), 10^th 3-point percentage (.353).
-- Suzanna Ohlsen 1^st free throw percentage (.904), 3^rd steals (2.0), 4^th minutes played (32.0), 5^th assists (3.9), 10^th scoring (13.7).
 
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistical leaders.
 
PLAYOFF PRATTLINGS
With the final week of the regular season at hand, the only thing for certain is which six teams are going to next week's GNAC Tournament: Montana State Billings, Simon Fraser, Western Washington, Alaska Anchorage, Seattle Pacific, and Saint Martin's. The order in which they ultimately are seeded is far from certain.
 
SPU can move all the way up to the No. 3 seed if it sweeps the Alaska schools, and Billings wins at least one of its two games, and Simon Fraser beats Western Washington. The Falcons also can wind up No. 4, 5, or 6, depending on the outcome of way-too-many scenarios still in play.
 
Tournament tickets can be purchased online by clicking on this link.
 
AROUND THE WEST REGION
Cal Poly Pomona in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Academy of Art in the Pacific West Conference have wrapped up their respective regular-season titles.
 
The Broncos are 17-3 in the CCAA (20-4 overall), four games ahead of second-place Chico State. Those two square off on Saturday in the regular-season finale. The CCAA's other regionally ranked teams also meet this week, as UC San Diego takes on both Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Los Angeles. The Tritons are getting hot at the right time, having won four straight.
 
Academy of Art (21-6, 18-1 Pac West) is three games ahead of Azusa Pacific, which is not yet eligible for regionals. Those two teams play on Thursday. The next-best team that is eligible for postseason is Cal Baptist (14-10, 12-6 Pac West).
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th 3-pointer     Betsy Kingma (has 97)
100^th point             Hannah Rodrigues (has 99)
100^th rebound      Hannah Rodrigues (has 91)
200^th point             Riley Butler (has 186)
200^th rebound       Maddey Pflaumer (has 193)
                                 Suzanna Ohlsen (has 194)
300^th field goal     Suzanna Ohlsen (has 299)
1,600^th point          Katie Benson (has 1,598)
               
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
None
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
It's playoff time. The fourth annual GNAC Tournament is set for next Wednesday through Saturday, March 5-8, at Saint Martin's in Lacey. Wednesday features men's first-round games at 12 noon and 2:15 p.m., followed by women's first-rounders at 5:15 and 7:30. One of those evening games will feature the Falcons. The men's semifinals are Thursday at 5:15 and 7:30, with Seattle Pacific playing in one of them, depending on whether it finishes No. 1 or No. 2 in the final standings. Women's semis are Friday at 5:15 and 7:30, and the title games are Saturday, with the men at 5:15, and the women at 7:30.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC                    Overall
Montana State Billings       13-3                          21-6
Simon Fraser                       12-5                         17-7
Western Washington          12-5                         16-9
Alaska Anchorage               11-5                         18-6
Seattle Pacific                      10-6                          17-7
Saint Martin's                         9-7                          15-10
Northwest Nazarene            7-9                          14-10
Alaska Fairbanks                  3-13                         9-15
Western Oregon                    3-13                         6-18
Central Washington             1-15                         6-18